Fern Britton has said there is "nothing to regret" following her split from husband Phil Vickery, telling Bella Magazine that she likes her own company and never feels lonely.
The 69-year-old television presenter explained that her outlook followed a move from Buckinghamshire to Cornwall for a fresh start six years ago. She and This Morning chef Phil, 65, divorced in 2020 after two decades together.
"I like my own company and I never feel lonely," she told the magazine. "Never underestimate anybody and never underestimate yourself."
Asked what advice she would give her younger self, she said: "I'd tell myself that there's nothing to be ashamed about and there's nothing to regret. Just get on with it. Never look back. If you're lost, keep going."
Relationship with Phil Vickery
Last year Fern admitted she has struggled at times to keep a cordial relationship with her ex-husband. She said she tries "very hard" not to "bad-mouth" Phil for the sake of their 25-year-old daughter, Winnie.
Fern also has twin sons, Harry and Jack, 32, and a daughter, Grace, 29, from her first marriage to broadcaster Clive Jones.
"Winnie adores him," she explained. "I'm not going to bad-mouth him in front of her; at least, I try very hard not to. I was the child of divorced parents and my mum never bad-mouthed my father."
In a separate interview with Yours magazine, Fern said she has no relationship with Phil, revealing he "hasn't spoken to me for six years now". A representative for Phil was contacted by the Daily Mail for comment at the time.
Move to Cornwall
In 2020, the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant moved 270 miles from her home in Buckinghamshire to the south-west coast of England, saying the relocation helped her heal following her divorce.
The move also inspired her to write more, years after the release of her first novel, New Beginnings, in 2011. Since the Covid pandemic she has been prolific, writing Daughters Of Cornwall in 2020 and The Good Servant two years later.
Weight loss and lifestyle changes
Fern has also had a lifestyle overhaul, losing five stone, and recently revealed the turning point behind the change.
"People often wonder when you lose lots of weight whether you've done it naturally," she told Woman & Home. "And I can look at you and say, 'Yes, I have'."
She said: "I stopped smoking, drinking, got my eating under control and stopped lying in bed feeling sorry for myself. I started the Couch to 5k, took about 80 per cent of the sugar out of my life and started to think about what I was eating, which I had never done before."
